Funding OK'd for design of paths near Navy Med

$750,000 study will plan sidewalks, bike lanes

For 10 years, Ron Engle has been commuting by bicycle from his Rockville home to the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda a few days a month. During that time, the microbiologist has to be constantly aware of the danger posed by cars and pedestrians on his 20-mile round trip route, particularly at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Rockville Pike.

"It's always tenuous," Engle said, citing the need to look five ways instead of four when crossing that intersection.

But he said he is gratified that the county is taking a step in the right direction by its recent decision to approve funding for the design of bikeway and pedestrian improvements around the National Naval Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda.

Funding for the $750,000 study was recommended by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and approved by the County Council, according to an Aug. 14 statement from the Department of Public Works and Transportation. The cost of the study will be reimbursed through the Department of Defense's Office of Economic Adjustment.

The improvements are part of a strategy to deal with the estimated 2,500 new jobs created by the relocation of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center from Washington, D.C. to the Navy Med campus in September 2011 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process. The new facility will be called the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

On Cedar Lane, the study will include plans for an off-road bike path between Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike, as well as improvements to an existing path east of Rockville Pike that connects to Beach Drive. South of Navy Med and NIH at Battery Lane and Glenbrook Parkway, there will be sidewalk repairs, lighting upgrades and improved signage.

On the east side of Rockville Pike between Cedar Lane and Jones Bridge Road, a hiker-biker path will replace the existing sidewalk. Finally, either bike lanes or an off-road bike path will be added on Jones Bridge Road between Rockville Pike and the entrance to the Uniformed Services University located at University Road.

Construction on the improvements could start in September 2010. The county has estimated that the cost of the biker and pedestrian upgrades will be about $5 million.

"There are a large number of pedestrian and bike commuters in the area. This obviously will serve them," said Phil Alperson, Montgomery County's BRAC coordinator. "It will help get cyclists off the road safely on their own path."

A member of the NIH Bicycle Commuter Club, which represents roughly 400 people, Engle said he was particularly interested in the possibility of on-street bike paths, which would allow bikers to have a separate space from pedestrians while still keeping them out of vehicular traffic.

"A good number of us would take the alternative of riding on the road, but to the side, and not getting in the way of faster traffic," Engle said.

Bethesda neighborhoods near Navy Med have also stressed the importance of encouraging bike and pedestrian commuting options, along with mass transit upgrades like an east-side entrance to the Medical Center Metro station, as a way to reduce single-passenger vehicle commuting and take pressure off local roads.

The State Highway Administration is currently revising planned improvements to four important intersections around Navy Med. Preliminary presentations in April indicated that all the proposed improvements would cost $215 million to build, but at present, there is only $36 million available for the intersection improvements.

The Defense Department's grant for the bike and pedestrian study was announced in June, with the expectation that the study would begin this summer and end next spring.

"It's really just the first step. I think they should do more eventually," Engle said.